At the rebel camp. People were preparing to march out.

Only about 30% of the rebel force were going to remain in the camp.

The remaining 70% would move out to defeat the various blockade forces blocking the roads to the Obrisin county in an attempt to starve them out.

「Hmm.」

Vihera murmured as she looked around, seemingly troubled by something.

She was wondering if she had missed something, but she was also wearing thin clothes that a dancer or courtesan would wear.

To the nearby soldiers, even her casual actions were enough to draw their attention.

「Vihera-sama, what’s wrong? Everyone is staring at your concerned face.」

Tilleyle called out to Vihera.

「Oh, Tillyele. ……Hey, do you think that these blockades are really an attempt to starve us out?」

「Hm? What do you mean?」

「It’s true that if they block off the roads, we may run out of supplies, but that would be resolved as soon as Rei returns, as I said at the meeting, you understand that, right?」

「Yes. However, Vihera-sama, you also said that supplies aside, that would not solve the issue of people.」

「Yes. But, I’m sure that Rei will return here with Frizione. When that happens, it wouldn’t be difficult to bring people over from the Imperial Capital. And, as I said before, with Rei’s strength, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to deal with the forces blocking the roads either, right?」

That was true, Tilleyle nodded.

Knowing Rei’s strength, Vihera’s words made sense to him.

「But, we have to do something now, don’t we? Certainly, everything will be fine once Rei returns, but we don’t know when that will be. For now, Theorem has sent out some soldier from Prince Mercurio’s faction to inform Rei of our situation……」

But there’s probably little chance of them reaching the other party, he did not finish his sentence.

「Maybe it would have been better if I had gone instead?」

「That is true……but Vihera-sama is one of the symbols of the rebel army, at the same level as Prince Mercurio.」

「It that sense, it would be better to join up with Frizione quickly. As a symbol for people to look up to, she is definitely more suited to the role than I am.」

「I don’t think that’s the case. Princess Frizione is certainly popular with the people. But, Vihera-sama is no less popular. In fact, I would say that you are more popular among the fighters.」

「Fufu~, I hope so. But for me, it’s easier to fight than to just be someone for people to look up to, and it’s also more fun.」

That was why she was going out to defeat the troops blocking the roads.

Even without being told the whole story, Tilleyle, who was an ardent support of Vihera, managed to grasp her meaning.

「Well, shall we get going then? ……By the way, what happened to those three?」

As they were about to march out, Vihera suddenly brought up the trio she had been thinking of.

Even Tilleyle had no idea who Vihera was talking about when she suddenly brought that up.

「Ahh. You know, the three who joined us with the intention of betraying us later.」

At those words, Tilleyle finally remembered.

They were the ones who had been discovered by Rei, and as a price for their betrayal, would have to stand on the front lines in their next battle.

It wasn’t just the soldiers either, but the nobles themselves.

It hadn’t been that long since their plans for betrayal had been discovered.

But, because they had taken steps to hide this information, so as to not attract attention, as well as the many other events that had taken place in this short period of time, Tilleyle had completely wiped the three from his mind.

「……Now that you mention it, nothing much. Well, considering what happened, this will be the first fight they should participate in. Excluding that crazy night raid, that is.」

The night raid had been carried out by just Rei and his guerrilla unit. That single unit had wiped out an entire punitive force with basically no casualties.

Even Tilleyle, let alone others, couldn’t call that a normal battle.

Anyway, this would be the first battles since their betrayal was discovered. However, the trio were nowhere to be found as everyone lined up, ready to march out.

「Did they run away?」

「That would be the best choice for those three, but I don’t think Prince Mercurio or Theorem would let them get away.」

「Soble ran away though, didn’t he?」

「That’s true. What should we do then? If Vihera-sama is really worried, I will check with Prince Mercurio about this.」

Vihera thought for a moment at Tilleyle’s words before quickly shaking her head.

「That’s fine. I was just a little curious. It’s Mercurio after all, so I’m sure he has a good grasp of the situation. ……Anyway, should we get going now? Gurgast seems to be getting impatient.」

As Vihera said that, she turned to look over at Gurgast, who was trembling with anticipation at the thought of battle.

If a small child were to see Gurgast now, they would undoubted be traumatised.

Looking at Gurgast as well, Tilleyle gave a small, wry smile.

「That’s right. Let’s go then. No matter how strong the enemy is, I think we can handle it as long as Vihera-sama is there.」

「I hope so. I hope the enemy is strong as well.」

She paused and looked around again before shouting loudly.

「Come on, let’s go! The enemy are blocking our supply routes! If we don’t do our best here, we’ll run out of food and weapons! If that happens, we will lose the civil war! I don’t want that to happen. That is why we should do our best here. The enemy has blocked all the roads leading here, but because they’ve done that, they can’t have their soldiers everywhere at once!」

Everyone who heard Vihera’s words raised their voices as well, full of fighting spirit.

To obtain supplies and avoid starvation.

…..Of course, there were quite a few people who were fired up for battle due to Vihera’s provocative appearance as well.

In any case, Vihera’s troops set out with fighting spirit filled to the brim.

(It would have been reassuring if Rei was here at a time like this.)

Vihera thought of her beloved in her heart, but she didn’t want to be a woman who had a one sided reliance on Rei either. What she was aiming for was to be her own presence alongside Rei, like Elena, not to just be protected by him.

Thinking like that, she made her way out of the camp.

 

 

「Uwaah. Ah……I’m bored. A few people did pass by at the beginning, but the word spread quickly and no one has come since.」

A soldier, who was on guard duty a short distance away from the soldiers blocking the road, muttered out loud.

Even though the road was blocked, it was still possible for someone determined to bypass the blockade to go around if they were prepared to do so.

The job of the 10 soldiers here was to to drive away any people who were prepared for that.

They understood that they had an important task in terms of cutting off the rebel army’s supplies. But even so, once word got out that the punitive force was blocking the roads, it spread very quickly.

As a result, those who were assigned here had a lot of free time on their hands.

「Don’t say that. It’s easier to sit here and do nothing rather than actually fight on the battlefield, isn’t it?」

The young soldier who had first complained sighed in exasperation at the words of the older soldier.

「What are you talking about? This is a great opportunity to make a name for ourselves, but if we’re assigned to a place like this……I want to make a name for myself, get promoted, and go pick up my childhood friend, Lucy!」

「Ahh……I get it. Yeah, well, I understand your determination, so just relax a little.」

I was like that when I was younger too……the older soldier spoke while thinking that.

「Yeah. It’s important to focus, but it’s also important to relax sometimes, right? Especially in a place like this.」

「That’s right. That’s what I wanted to say as well.」

「The enthusiasm of the youth in uncontrollable in many ways.」

「Seriously.」

As he replied to the voice he heard……the older soldier suddenly realised something.

(A woman’s voice!?)

Turning around hastily, he found himself before a woman of aggressive beauty.

Her clothing was thin enough that it could be seen through, making the older soldier wonder if they had been visited by a prostitute.

However……the moment he saw the gauntlet on the woman’s arms, he realised that his thoughts were wrong.

「Tch, hey, contact the main unit……」

The older soldier tried to tell his partner immediately, but all he saw was the young soldier he had been talking to collapsing to the ground.

「What……」

With that final word, the man felt a shock at his neck before his consciousness too sank into the darkness.

 

 

「Well, that’s how it is.」

Vihera muttered as she turned her gaze to the two soldiers lying unconscious on the ground.

She hadn’t expected to find anyone who could fight her.

But even so, she hadn’t expected to be able to get this close without them finding out……no, she had even managed to interrupt their conversation without them even realising it.

「It was a good decision for me to come along. There are a lot more over there than here.」

Vihera and her group had discovered a force blocking the road just a few hours out from the rebel camp.

In particular, there were two forces, one blocking the road itself, and one blocking paths around the road, potential alternative paths.

After considering what to do, Gurgast and Tilleyle went down the main road while Vihera came here on her own……

「There doesn’t seem to be any other response from them. Maybe they really do just plan to blockade us after all?」

Tilting her head, Vihera left the soldiers there as she searched for any notable signs.

Deciding that she could call for soldiers to take the two prisoners later, she left the area.

Five minutes of walking later.

Vihera came across some people who were resting.

However, they seemed aware that they were in enemy territory and were ready to grab their weapons at any time.

(Now, I wonder if there are any skilled opponents here?)

As she walked up while making intentional noise, one of the soldiers noticed and spoke up.

「Hey, it’s not time to switch yet……」

The reason the soldier was unable to finish his sentence was because they saw something beyond their expectations.

A beautiful woman in a provocative outfit.

One of the soldiers noticed their comrade’s reaction and also froze up when they turned to their gaze and saw Vihera.

However……not everyone froze up for the same reason.

One, and only one, soldier, the one in command of the unit, recognised who it was.

「Vi-……」

However, things rapidly changed before the man could even finish his words.

Dashing forward, Vihera charged towards them.

With the soldier freezing up after seeing her, Vihera quickly closed the distance as she gently reached out her hand……

「Hah-!」

Gently touching the soldier and letting out a determined voice, the soldier fell to the groud.

Magic Palm.

A technique invented by Vihera that sent magic power through the opponent’s body via a shockwave.

No matter how strong the armour they were wearing, it was meaningless against this technique. The armour worn by the soldiers deployed here was of no use.

The soldier lost consciousness as they fell to the ground.

Before the surrounding soldiers could understand what was going on, Vihera reached out as she knocked them out one by one.

It was only after that happened several times that the soldiers who had yet to be knocked out began to face Vihera with their weapons.

「W-Wait!」

However, the commander of the soldiers, who was the first to realise Vihera’s true identity, instinctively tried to stop them.

From the commander’s perspective, Vihera was the Second Princess of the empire. He couldn’t let her get hurt. And, if he managed to capture her alive, it would be a golden opportunity to advance his career.

Those were his thoughts as he said those words, but that caused his soldiers to stop moving for a moment……which was enough for Vihera to knock them all out with her Magic Palm.

In just a few seconds, all of his subordinates had been knocked out as they fell to the ground. The commander looked at Vihera with surprise, but the next moment, he too lost consciousness just like his men.

「It’s a shame that in the end they were only at this level. Although, I really shouldn’t expect much from a unit stationed in such a remote location.」

Vihera sighed before reuniting with her force and taking all the soldiers prisoner.

Several more battles like this took place after as Vihera’s unit continued to take one sided victories.

However, Vihera’s anxiety remained unresolved.

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